Archive for March, 2014

The phantom warrior is an echo of a warrior’s spirit who left behind an unfinished task in life, they exist only to called back by strong emotion or magic to attempt to complete that last task in some fashion.

A phantom warrior rarely has an independent existence, they are usually tied to and item of event and are summoned by some trigger to appear in an attempt to complete their unfinished task. Their perception of their status as a spiritual echo is faint and they tend to perceive the world as it had been with the completion of the one task their overriding goal which can make interacting with them difficult.

A phantom warrior looks as a faded version of how they last appeared in life, and when incorporeal light will pass through them, complete with echoes of the equipment they were carrying.

Creating a Phantom warrior

“Phantom warrior” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature that has a Charisma score of at least 6 and can feel devotion to a cause. A phantom warrior retains all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here. Read the rest of this entry ?

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“The Arengo has ordered this to be done and so it must be done,” stated the Masters of Arms of the Alliance of Qurent, his heavily gloved hands resting casually on the axe of his office.

“But it in not our fight, why should we send our young folk to fight?” objected the priest.

“It in not my choice either, but my oath is to serve, and serve I will. You have my word that I will do my best to keep them alive.”

“It will have to do,” sighed the priest. “I will come with you, you will need the service of a skilled physician and I serve the Arengo as well.”

“You will be welcome.”

Axe of the Arengo

These fine weapons are made as both symbols of authority as well as practical weapons, assigned to those who serve the Arengo directly as commanders or enforcers. They are made of dark metal and dark wood, made from trees grown in the lands ruled by the Arengo. The symbol of the Arengo is etched on one side and that of the office on the other.

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Dragon Templates, in three short volumes, by Ennead Games provide tools to customize that most iconic of fantasy creatures, the dragon. So, how well do these works do so?

Each product opens with (the same) list of true dragon types in Pathfinder and how the templates and variants are to be applied.

Dragon Templates (and Variants), Volume 1 – A to H, has 23 templates ranging from a -1 to +3 Challenge Rating (CR). The templates are light on detail, providing an introductory paragraph or two, a brief note on the physical changes that the template causes, and lastly the mechanics which sometime come with drawbacks. While some of the ideas are interesting and solid, they are not well developed and the CR adjustments do not seem to always align with the powers granted. The hybrid (half dragon/half something else) variant is especially sketchy but the albino, broken and glass templates have a considerable amount of potential.

Dragon Templates (and Variants), Volume 2 – I to O, has seven templates ranging from a -1 to +2 Challenge Rating (CR). Like the first volume, they are more sketches than fully realized ideas and this is the weakest of the collections, with templates such as: insane, which beside being a poor model of insanity is essentially unplayable as every 1d4 rounds there is a one in six chance it will become defenseless (and this is a +1 CR?), kaleidoscope adds an unneeded random element to combat and nothing more (though it rated a +1 CR as well) and the masochistic template is a misuse of language at best (sadists enjoy inflicting pain, not masochists as this template implies) only the lazy and obsidian templates look salvageable.

Dragon Templates (and Variants), Volume 3 – P to Z, has 11 templates ranging from a -1 to +2 Challenge Rating (CR), with one with a variable CR bonus that could go to +4! As the pattern established by the previous two volumes, the templates are unpolished but useable, just. Some interesting ideas here, the stone imbued xenolith, the amusing yodeling and the astrologically tied zodiac templates. But the quantum template will just drive everyone (including the GM) crazy, the temporal template gives out limited uses of 8th and 9th level time spells and splitter looks like a mathematical headache though it is a neat idea. There are some useful pieces here and some dross to be sorted through.

If you use a lot of dragons in your campaign, or if you just want the ones that show up to be unique and interesting, these products will provide inspiration and a starting point for various unusual dragons but they are only a starting point, you will need to work out the finer details and balance them yourself.

Disclosure: As a featured reviewer for RPGNow/DriveThroughRPG, I received my copy of this product for free from the publisher for the purpose of this review.

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Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales is a lovely collection of new and retold tales from near and far, most are quite short but all are well written. Some have happy endings, some do not, but all are full of wonder and magic, both of which we need more of in the world. Each of the authors tells a little about their interaction (and often love) of such stories and about their inspiration for the piece they included, quite interesting and charming. If you like fairy tale retold, this collection will be well worth your time.

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It had taken three years of hard campaigning, convincing the villages to cooperate and let some of their brave young people leave to join the slowly growing ranks of the liberators. But today, today it was all worth it.

The Bandit Earl Comran the Knight-killer and his men drew up in their ragged ranks, assorted bandits, mercenaries and killers. Across the field from them was the militia of the valley, blooded and determined but ill-equipped, united under the torn banner of the Knights of the Peak who had once defended these lands before their Order was betrayed and slaughtered by Camran. The village minstrels struck up the march of the Knights of the Peak and joining the ranks of the militia were the phantoms of the Knights slaughtered by Camran, eager to redeem in death the Oath they could not keep in life.

Lost Legion’s Banner

These banners are damaged and battered, often with ancient bloodstains, it is only barely recognizable as the symbol of a once proud fighting force. The shaft it is mounted on is equally worn though still serviceable.

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So, I am going to have a free short introductory adventure (titled Rogue Island) to introduce people to the Sea of Stars for my campaign setting kickstarter, but figured that it needed to be playtested. So, I have run it for both of my regular groups and, as expected, they approached it totally differently, but both groups managed to avoid the potentially most dangerous encounter via negotiation, which pleased me.

Still needs a bit of polishing, a proper introduction and some maps (my bane!) but things are moving forward, slowly, but still moving.

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“Again the raiders come, but this time we are ready for them,” growled Old Edgar, his knuckles white, his grip was so tight on the spear.

“They are arrogant and it will be there undoing,” agreed Little Karl, barely old enough to join the militia, he was here to fight at his father’s side.

“Now!” shouted Jana the Blacksmith, the elected captain of the militia, as they charged the raiders, their spears ready.

Militia Spear

These simple spears are imbued with the strength and dedication of those who have used them to defend their homes and families. They are often decorated with hand made flags or other tokens from their friends and family.